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Sunday, March 19, 2017

I honestly
cannot remember the last time I picked up a fairy tale. I cannot remember the
last time I truly got lost in another world. The books I read, about
leadership, management, children, education, and neuroscience, etc. are all
cerebral. These types of books require us to think, process and decipher the
information for further use. Sometimes it’s to spark inspiration and help us
make a difference in whatever we are working on at the time. Or to get out of a
rut. Rarely do we as adults, just pick up a fantasy book and dive in, head
first. We don’t. We are so caught up in all our new information and
“nonfiction” lives that we stop remembering to play. To just be. We forget to
pick up a book that goes beyond the newest science updates and strategies for success.
We forget that learning isn’t all about facts, strategies and so on. It’s about
letting that creativity within us come out and play. It’s about letting go of
our “nonfiction” lives and embrace the possibility of the impossible. When we
as adults can do this… when we can stop and embrace the fantasy we set a
positive example for our children. We model to them that learning isn’t all
about facts and strategies. It’s not only about subjects that seem like no fun.
It’s about being creative and delving into the unknown. Fantasies give our
children (and us as adults) the chance to stop and experience the impossible
through a book. It allows us to be exposed to what others can create. This
opens our imaginations to the impossible and sometimes to things that are
possible. The word itself does say “im-possible”. The next time you go to the
library or book store and your child wants a crazy looking fantasy book, don’t
say no. Instead offer to read it with them. There’s no better way to spend time
with your child than reading a book. And if you can make your imagination and
theirs soar at the same time, it’s all the more worthwhile.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Everyone is an individual.As such, they are unique.So it's no surprise that everyone learns differently.Students need to learn how they learn
best.They apply this knowledge to
become their own best teacher.To stack
the deck in their favor, they need to create an environment for successful
study. Follow Goldilocks: not too hot,
not too cold, but just right.Start with
the 5 senses and create a setting conducive to study.Know the assignment.Have all relevant materials on hand: books,
paper, pen, references.Avoid and remove
distractions and sources of interruptions.They also need to learn how to effectively manage their time.People have different attention spans.Use this knowledge to your advantage.Those with short attention spans should not
try to force themselves to sit and study for hours on end.The results will be ineffective.

The power of the human mind is
amazing.Negative attitudes are like
gravity; they tend to pull you down.I
can recall so many times in the classroom where frustrated students exclaim, “I
can’t do this.”Self-fulfilling
prophecies of difficulties and hardship tend to come true.Having made the statement, students often don’t
try.The power of imagination can create
an insurmountable obstacle.They have
convinced themselves success is unattainable.This begins the trip down the slippery slope into the pit of boredom, despair
and less success in class.It turns into
a no win situation.A positive attitude
helps, but is no guarantee of success.Simply saying “I can do this” is not enough.You need to stack the deck in your favor and
prepare to do the assignment or task.For
example, a young student says “I want to be a jet fighter pilot but I don’t do
math.”Do you honestly see this person
becoming a pilot?

I have seen students contending
for athletic scholarships but are failing in my class.Discouraged, many drift into class late and
unprepared.They don’t submit
assignments.All this leads to poor exam
results.At the end of the term, they
beg for a minimum passing grade.“I know
my grades are bad, but I am trying really hard.”This is attended with statements of the many
tens of hours they spent studying for my class.Yet in their sport, they know practice is required.They know they must show up at practice and
to be on time.In any athletic
competition, there usually is only one winning team.Both teams enter the match focused on
winning.Both teams are trying very
hard.It is important to try.Without trying, you have no chance to
succeed.But trying doesn’t guarantee
success.Somehow, these students don’t
apply this simple understanding to their academic studies.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

A common perception (or hope) is that students go to school
to learn.Teachers tend to give tests to
confirm students studied and learned.The students are graded on the number of correct answers.Before the lesson, most students often don’t
think they know the answers.So they ask
questions.Teachers often feel they must
provide the answer to those questions.And students expect to get the right answers to study for the test.For most tests, there is one and only one
correct answer.

Unfortunately real life doesn’t quite work that way.For example, what is the correct answer to
the question of “Who should I ask to the party on Friday night?”Or, “What should make for lunch today?”The truly “right” answer is usually relative
and rather elusive.The real world is
complex and undergoes changes.It is
sometimes a very fluid and dynamic place.For most of us, the “right” answer is relative to a number of factors
that are both intangible/subjective mixed in with tangible/objective
facts.

One of the missing links in the question and answer system
is listening.The world is a diverse place.Highly educated people (e.g. world recognized
experts) are often not found in some of the places with very big problems.Those places are often impoverished.The people living there lack educational
opportunities.So they lack fancy
diplomas and degrees.They study in the “school
of hard knocks.”The lack of a diploma
doesn’t mean they don’t know things.To
see a good example of the importance of asking good questions and listening
carefully to the answers (and then asking more questions), consider Ernesto
Sirollis’ talk “Want
to help someone? Shut up and listen!” You may be shocked to see how some of
the world’s top experts can be rendered ineffective when they ignore the
knowledge of impoverished, “uneducated” indigenous people.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

It is a fundamental S.E.E.D.S. principle that curiosity and
playfulness are the very foundation for learning in young children.Before they can speak, very young children,
powered by curiosity explore and discover the world around them.Their natural playfulness puts them in many
informal trial-and-error learning situations.

Sugata Mitra put a single computer with internet access and
a mouse in a hole
in a wall of a slum in India.Children discovered it.They had
never seen or used a computer before and spoke no English.Their natural curiosity took over.Soon, the exploration led to discoveries of
patterns, actions and results.There was
no curriculum.Learning took place
without a formal teacher, classroom, or lesson plan.He observed “Students learn what they want to
learn.”Numerous repetitions of the
experiment all over India showed the same results.Mitra realized learning is a self-organized
system.He concluded that “at the
elementary level, students don’t really need a teacher.”Apparently the students share their knowledge
and get a synergistic result.The magic
ingredient seems to be an encouraging word.

That reminds me of a song I learned as a child: Home on the Range.For educators, the key phrase in the song
occurs in the first verse: “Where seldom is heard a discouraging word…”This phrase should be the watchword for all
parents and teachers.Simple words of
encouragement or discouragement can have lasting effects.Encouragement reinforces the S.E.E.D.S.
preference to nurture, foster, protect, and enrich a child’s curiosity.Discouragement tends to kill curiosity.

The simple solution to reducing, eliminating, and avoiding
boredom in the classroom can be very simple.Watch and listen to students to learn what interests them.Or, just ask them what they want to
learn.Student curiosity should be the
source of all lesson plans.This is the essence
of true student
centered learning.This begins the
education process….the “ex ducere” (the leading out).The parent or teacher can facilitate the
learning.They can create learning
environments that open doors to knowledge or information needed to satisfy the child’s
curiosity.S.E.E.D.S. uses the
Geographic Systems Model to empower students to seek and find connections to
S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) related
content.Students motivated by curiosity
will often exceed adult expectations for learning.This in turn creates ab environment where many
adults feel threatened by younger children having so much knowledge.But anyone with an attitude of life-long
learning welcomes the opportunity to learn, regardless of the age of the
teacher.

S.E.E.D.S. uses a cyclic saying “All teachers should be
students; All students should be teachers.”Giving students the chance to teach can be a simple request: “How did
you do that?”In the process of
explaining, young students use their knowledge, vocabulary, reason, and interpersonal
and social communications skills simultaneously.It can be truly amazing how easy it is to be
a facilitator of learning.This can be
taken to another level when a student helps to teach or tutor other
students.Teach-Backs are a useful way
to gauge learning and comprehension.This follows Seneca’s saying “While
we teach, we learn.”

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

The “Aloha Spirit” is something unique to Hawaii.While other cultures may have similar
concepts or ideas, few places on Earth seem to resonate this way of life as does
Hawaii.Those lucky enough to be born
and reared here, the “Aloha Spirit” is a way of thinking and way of life they
absorb through the living examples they see all around them.There are some key words in Hawaiian that
exemplify this way of life.

Hawaii’s state motto is “Ua Mau
ke Ea o ka Aina i ka Pono" (“The life of the land is perpetuated in
righteousness").Two key words in
the motto are “Aina” and “Pono.”

Aina (sounds like I--like the
pronoun for me + nah) means land.Hawaii
is one of the most remote island groups in the world.It is about 4,023 km / 2,500 mi from the
nearest continent.The islands are a
land oasis in the midst of the vastness of the Pacific Ocean.For the inhabitants, it is the source of
life.It provides for their needs, but
is a limited resource.As such, they
respected and protected it in order to sustain themselves and future
generations.

Modern
research shows many people experience a calm, soothing sensation when outdoors
and surrounded by greenery.This can
happen even in urban gardens when a field of view is dominated by gardens.New York City residents report this sensation
even when in small roof top gardens.This is, in part, why the National Parks Conservation Association
encourages people to visit and support the US National Park System.The National Wildlife Federation attempts to
bring Nature to the people with their “Backyard Habitat” and “Schoolyard Habitat”
gardening programs.

Pono (sounds
like poe—as in Edgar Allan Poe + no) generally
means “righteousness.”The sense in the
State’s motto essentially means Hawaiian people living respectfully on the land
do the right thing in all things as a way of life.They respect each other and the environment. This concept empowers people to do good or
right things for others without expectation or consideration for reward or
recognition.You simply do the right
thing because it is the right thing to do.[Note: Originally there was no private property.All people had a vested interest in
protecting the land in order to get food and sustenance in the middle of the
ocean.The land division system of old
Hawaii (ahupua’a; sounds like ah-who +
pooh-ah-ah) created wedge-shaped parcels of land extending from the
mountains to the sea.Essentially this
assured ecologically sustainable units.Westerners brought concepts of private land ownership that destroyed the
Hawaiian system.The land was fragmented
by special interests seeking sections for waterfront, agricultural, commercial
and other special interests.This
segmentation of the environment was arbitrarily based on self-interest and counter to the
natural order for Hawaiians.]

Three
related concepts give more insight to the “Aloha Spirit.”Hawaiian culture is communal.The word “Ohana” (sounds like oh + ha +
nah) loosely translates to “family.”The word originates with taro (the basic staple food plant for the
islanders).Many shoots come from the
same root.This connotes the sense that
all people come from the same “root” and are thus all one big family.The term applies equally to biological family
members as well as friends and co-workers.It recognizes that people are social by nature.And as Gandhi said, ““Interdependence is and ought to be as much
the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man
is a social being. Without interrelation with society he cannot realize his
oneness with the universe or suppress his egotism. His social interdependence enables him to test
his faith and to prove himself on the touchstone of reality.”

Mana (sounds like mah-nah) relates to
power.But the Hawaiian sense of power
is through life force energy not mere physical strength or material
possessions.As a dynamic entity,
mana changes by increasing or decreasing based on your live actions relative to pono.The more righteous your actions, the more mana you have.Harmonious relationships and being helpful to
others gains mana.This is how pono and mana work together and make for a sustainable way of life.

Aloha (sounds like Ah + low + ha) is a very
fuzzy Hawaiian term. It embraces
and embodies love, charity, empathy, compassion, sympathy, kindness,
gentleness, and much more.This word is
used when greeting and when parting.The
context is intended to remind people that love is an all embracing life
force.Some translate it
as “Joyfully sharing life.” When you do your work and conduct
your relationships and business with a aloha, life is more
harmonious.

The
Aloha Spirit is an inherent part of life in Hawaii.When people born and raised in the islands
move away, the Aloha Spirit goes with them.These migrants export the Aloha Spirit from the islands and dispense it
wherever they go.They plant the seeds
of Aloha everywhere.The Aloha Spirit is
alive and well in S.E.E.D.S.